Ventura County farmer David Schwabauer tours his irrigation system as he considers letting energy companies drill in his orchards.

Ventura County farmer David Schwabauer tours his irrigation system as he considers letting energy companies drill in his orchards.

Photo: Damian Dovarganes, Associated Press

California drought sets up fracking face-off

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More than half of the oil and gas wells fracked across America since 2011 lie in places suffering through drought - including California.

That's one of the more eye-catching results of a hydraulic fracturing study released Wednesday by Ceres, a nonprofit group that works with investors and businesses to encourage sustainability.

Ceres surveyed nearly 39,300 wells fracked nationwide and found that 55 percent were in places experiencing drought. And 36 percent were in areas where groundwater supplies are seriously depleted.

Taken together, all the wells surveyed from January 2011 to May 2013 consumed 97 billion gallons of water, pumped under high pressure to crack rocks containing oil or natural gas. Up to 10 million gallons can go into a single well.

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"Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country's most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions," Ceres President Mindy Lubber said. "Barring stiffer water-use regulations and improved on-the-ground practices, the industry's water needs in many regions are on a collision course with other water users, especially agriculture and municipal water use."

California is in the grip of a historic drought, with the Sierra snowpack at its lowest level on record. State officials have taken the unprecedented step of cutting off water to contractors that serve 25 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland.

In some locales such as Colorado, farmers and drillers are competing for dwindling supplies of water. But California doesn't face such a problem because of its geology.

The state's oil deposits are packed with high volumes of briny water. Pressurizing the well, therefore, doesn't require much water pumped from the surface.

In addition, California's oil-bearing rock formations don't lie in neatly stacked layers compared with the newly fracked oil fields of North Dakota or Texas. In seismically active California, underground formations tend to be tilted and folded, making horizontal drilling ineffective. Horizontal drilling can greatly increase the length of a well, requiring more water for fracking.

Still, all forms of water use will likely face scrutiny as California's drought deepens - fracking included. Fracking a well in California typically requires about 134,000 gallons, according to the study. The California Department of Conservation estimates fracking last year consumed about 300 acre-feet of water. (For comparison, a family of four typically uses 1 acre-foot per year, according to the department.)

Fracking's potential impact on water supplies will be part of an upcoming study commissioned by the state as part of a bill passed last year to regulate hydraulic fracturing. And Amanda Brock, head of a water-treatment firm in Houston, said oil companies in California are already exploring ways to frack using the briny, undrinkable water found in the state's oil fields.

"The U.S. energy boom is in full swing," said Brock, CEO of Water Standard, on a conference call hosted by Ceres on Wednesday. "There's no question our march to energy independence is gaining momentum. But caution demands that we analyze factors that can slow this growth. ... One of the primary issues we have to look at is water usage."

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